Škoda Superb RS will finally be and has shown its possible appearance. But after years of waiting, it will probably please few people
8 hours ago | Petr Prokopec
Photo: Škoda Auto
It has been talked about for a long time that the Octavia RS could get a bigger brother, but it hasn’t happened yet. In the case of the fourth-generation Superb, the arrival of the RS seems finally certain, but in the end it may be a weaker car than the standard Superb III was in its top version.
Quite a few Fridays have passed since the presentation of the new Škoda Superb. The fourth generation can thus be ordered, but so far only with a two-liter turbodiesel and its 150 horses under the hood. When choosing the lower Selection equipment, such a design will cost at least 1,060,000 CZK, after which it will be interesting to see what amounts will be associated with other aggregates. The gasoline four-cylinders 1.5 TSI (150 hp) and 2.0 TSI (204 and 265 hp) are to arrive, as well as the more powerful 2.0 TDI (193 hp) and the plug-in hybrid one-five (204 hp).
The new Superb does not in any case match the peak performance of the previous generation, in which case the two-liter petrol produced up to 280 hp. But it is quite possible that it is an intention to make way for a new peak. The head of the brand, Klaus Zellmer, in response to the remark that the RS design could be on the way from Škoda as a rival to the sedans and station wagons of BMW, Mercedes or Audi, said: “I couldn’t agree more. We’ll see. We haven’t announced anything yet, but I think your arguments are relevant,” he said literally. It is difficult to interpret this other than as an indirect confirmation of the arrival of another RS, but the question is whether there is anything to look forward to in this case.
Skoda developed the new Superb at the same time as the ninth-generation Volkswagen Passat. Unlike the Czech car, it will only be available as a station wagon, while all three versions will be produced at the factory in Bratislava. At the same time, the plug-in hybrid system is intended only to go under the hood of more practical models, but the German one will also be available in a more powerful form tuned to 272 horses. And it is this that could finally arrive under the Czech hood in the case of the version marked with the letters RS.
So far, take everything as speculation, but if Škoda really decides to offer the Superb RS for the first time, then there are not many other options. Because of the forced electrification, screws are being tightened on all sides, the parent concern Volkswagen would probably not allow the brand to spend a lot of money on the development of a version equipped with, for example, a turbocharged two-liter engine with an output of 300 or more horses, if at the end of such a process there were only problems with fleet emissions, and i.e. with fines from the EU.
However, in the case of a plug-in hybrid one-five paired with an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery, a significant part of the work is already done and the problem with CO2 would not exist. So Škoda would have to focus mainly on the chassis, but even in this case it would have a lot of data available from the development of the German version. In essence, this is the path of least resistance, which would also help the brand in reducing emissions – the Passat GTE of the eighth generation had 27 to 42 g/km in this regard.
After all, Zellmer adds that times have changed and people today emphasize something other than performance. “The number of horses will no longer be so important. In my opinion, the game is changing, in the future everything will be more about efficiency, sustainable materials or decarbonization, which will occur during the entire life cycle,” he also stated. Of course, it’s nonsense, with sharp versions it’s still mainly about performance and dynamics.
But if Zellmer paves the way for the relatively weak hybrid Superb RS, his words are not surprising. You just have to be realistic that this way the car would arrive with technology that will please only a few of the customers of the RS version. They certainly haven’t been waiting for this for years, and after the car’s design was criticized by professionals, it would be another potential disappointment.
The new Superb does not look as repulsive as the related Kodiaq, but it has the same technology. This means that customers can count on a maximum of 265 horses. The RS version under consideration could change that, but its device will be a concession to the times. Photo: Škoda Auto
Source: Auto Express
Petr Prokopec
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2023-12-23 07:41:58
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